Quick, agile and a great shooter, Kevin Duckworth goes down as one of the best, and most accomplished, centers in Trail Blazers history.

The Oregonian, 1990Kevin Duckworth was a force in the middle for some of the best Trail Blazers teams.At the same time, Duckworth might also be one of the most underappreciated players in team history, despite being a two-time All-Star (1989, 1991), the winner of the NBA Most Improved Player award (1988) and a starter on teams that made it to two NBA Finals.

"I don't think people realize how good he was back then," said Rick Adelman, his coach in Portland. "He was a very good offensive player, and under-rated as far as skill level and footwork and could really shoot the ball. He was perfect for that team because he was so agile."

After battling weight problems throughout his career and after his playing days, Duckworth died in August 2008 from a heart attack while serving as an ambassador for the Blazers. He was 44.

"He wasn't underrated, but he was underappreciated," teammate Jerome Kersey said. "I look back on some of our games that get replayed and I say, 'OK, yeah. Duck could play.' I think he might have been even underappreciated by us. Because when he was on, he was tough to guard."

Duckworth also was the starting center during the best three-year run in Blazers history --NBA Finals appearances in 1990 and 1992, which sandwiched a franchise-record 63 wins in the 1990-91 season.

He also was at the center of one of the more memorable moments in team history. Before Game 7 of the 1990 Western Conference semifinal against San Antonio, he made a dramatic entrance.

Duckworth had missed the first six games of the series after breaking his right hand in a first-round matchup with Dallas. He was projected to miss the rest of the playoffs. But behind closed doors, Duckworth had been experimenting in practices with casts, wraps and splints to see if he could play.

As the teams warmed up, Duckworth waited in the locker room in order to make a big entrance.

"They wanted to maximize the shock factor and bring him out after we took the court," Terry Porter said. "I always remember him saying that was one of the best moments of his life. It was like Willis Reed, the way the crowd jumped and reacted."

Kersey called it a "surreal" moment.

"It was like everything stopped, and the only thing moving was big Duck going through the tunnel," Kersey said. "We already knew the fans loved him, but when that roar came out, it was crazy. For the rest of the team it was like, 'OK. Ready. Set. Go. Let's get this.'"

Even though Duckworth finished with only six points and five rebounds, he played good defense against Spurs star David Robinson, holding him to 3-of-12 shooting entering the fourth quarter.

"He played David well, really bodied him up," Kersey said. "But it was more of an emotional lift. We had our team back."

The next season in the playoffs, Duckworth had what Adelman and Porter call his best game as a Blazer. In Game 4 of the conference semifinals against Utah, Duckworth had 30 points and 11 rebounds in a 104-101 win in Salt Lake City, where the Blazers seldom won. The next game, the Blazers clinched in Portland.

"He was the one that night that was not going to let us be denied," Kersey said. "He was just killing Mark Eaton."

Added Porter: "I don't think people realize how great he was. If he played today he would be one of the best centers in the league. Back then, he got kind of lost because there were so many great centers. But he was really solid. People always wanted to focus on his size, but he could shoot with his left or right hand, run the floor. He had an amazing skill set."

Duckworth is 10th all-time in franchise scoring and rebounding and played in the sixth most playoff games in team history. He ranks sixth in playoff scoring, fourth in playoff rebounding.